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Herschel Walker, the football legend now running for Senate in Georgia, says he wants to completely ban abortion, likening it to murder and claiming there should be “no exception” for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. But the Republican candidate has supported at least one exception—for himself. A woman who asked not to be identified out of privacy concerns told The Daily Beast that after she and Walker conceived a child while they were dating in 2009 he urged her to get an abortion. The woman said she had the procedure and that Walker reimbursed her for it. (Sollenberger, 10/4)

“This is a flat-out lie — and I deny this in the strongest possible terms,” Walker posted on Twitter, in response to the Daily Beast article. Things got more complicated for the Republican candidate when his son, Christian Walker, subsequently sent a series of tweets accusing his father of abusive behavior and of being a terrible father. “I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us,” Christian Walker tweeted. (Olander, 10/3)

If you watch until the end of this campaign ad, you’ll see a candidate giving birth. Katie Darling, a Democrat and business executive challenging House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), is out with a spot that documents the arrival of “someone else who’s going to be joining us” on the family farm. Darling narrates the ad, in which she relays her concerns about climate change, underperforming public schools and her state’s abortion ban. (Wagner, 10/3)

From the pulpit of the bright and airy Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, Father Bao Thai delivered a homily on a recent Sunday morning, urging his congregation to vote against Proposition 1, a measure on the Nov. 8 ballot that would enshrine the right to abortion in California’s constitution. “A steward is entrusted to care for the master’s property until his return,” he preached. “What precious goods has the creator placed in our care? Do they include the innocent and sacred lives of the unborn and children to be born?” (Koseff, 10/3)

Not many Republican candidates want to talk about abortion in their campaigns, especially in their costly paid television or digital ads. But the few who are taking on the issue are doing so with a familiar message: We aren’t the extremists, Democrats are. ... Zach Nunn, the Republican challenging Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, touted in a recent ad how “most Iowans support common sense limits on abortion” but that his opponent “votes for the most extreme abortion laws in the world.” Axne has been running ads attacking Nunn for raising his hand during a GOP primary debate when candidates were asked if they supported a policy banning “all abortions” with “no exceptions.” Adam Laxalt, the Republican nominee for Senate in Nevada, launched an ad last month pushing back on criticism of his abortion position. (Merica and Wright, 10/4)

Mehmet Oz looked directly into the camera and introduced his daytime television viewers to a “controversial” weight-loss approach: taking a hormone that women produce during pregnancy combined with a diet of 500 calories a day. “Does it really work? Is it safe? Is it a miracle? Or is it hype?” he asked in a 2011 episode of “The Dr. Oz Show” before introducing his audience to “human chorionic gonadotropin,” or HCG, and to a weight-loss doctor who promoted it. In fact, there was little uncertain about the HCG Diet. (Itkowitz and Bernstein, 10/3)

The 2022 midterms elections are just over a month away, on Nov. 8, with both chambers of Congress and a slew of governorships hanging in the balance. Here are the deadlines to register to vote in each state. All mail-in registration forms must be postmarked by the listed deadline, unless otherwise noted. (Rai and Scully, 10/3)

This November, voters will determine which party controls Congress for the last half of President Biden’s first term. Democrats control both the House of Representatives and Senate now. What was once widely expected to be a wipeout for their party has turned into a competitive battle. It’s possible that Republicans pick up one or both chambers of Congress — or neither. What happens in these elections will drastically reshape the next two years before Biden potentially runs for reelection — and potentially runs against Donald Trump again. Here are the three likeliest scenarios for who will win Congress, and what they’ve talked about doing with that power. (Phillips, 10/2)